


wither and wilt

by midnightssky (orphan_account)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Background Relationships, Concubine wars, Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Slight pining, Trans Male Character, trans!leo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 20:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11882370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/midnightssky
Summary: His mother always spoke of how she had wished for a son.Leo felt the same.





	wither and wilt

**Author's Note:**

> I spent like 4 hours trying to decide what pairing to use and the leoniles tags died for like 2 weeks so here I am to revive it
> 
> I have a couple headcanons I share with some people and decided to make a story out of it?? I know the trans hc isn't incredibly original and I do love it so I hope ny'all enjoy
> 
> (totally not debating writing a smut for this. maybe.)
> 
> as usual unedited, etc etc enjoy

His mother always spoke about how she wished more than anything to have given birth to a son, a prince that could eventually find his way to the Nohrian throne, even if it be through climbing over the bodies of people he could have possibly called  _family._

 

In all truth, Leo had felt the same.

 

He was born in late June, in the dead hours of the night to someone he would never care for, the bastard child to a woman that would never be Queen and a father he doubted he could ever come to know.  The woman's name was Lilian, a poor excuse of a mage that worked to train a few recruits in the art of sorcery in the Nohrian army.

 

Although not having a high ranking position, she had managed to worm her way into bed with the king with enough effort.  And not only because of that, Leo hated her.

 

Leo's skin was always fair and smooth as silk, having the sweet scent of roses and honey associated with his features, being told a 'proper princess' should appear and smell as lovely as possible.  He worked hard with swords during the day before going out to make sure he smelled like nothing more than sweat and dirt.

 

His eyes were hazel, often appearing bright green in the sunlight and dull brown against the flicker of a candle's flame, pale blond hair falling gracefully down his back in long curls he tortured with a brush every morning.  The longer it grew, the more the strands seemed to curl and wave, and his mother sat him down everyday to rid of such things that put him too close to looking like the crown prince.

 

"Be a proper lady."  Lilian had scolded, yanking the brush back through his hair as he flinched until the rebellious curls only set in small waves, brushing the long strands back across her shoulders and all but throwing her loose nightgown across the room.  Leo was always quiet, never because he was asked to be and wanted to behave, but hated how soft and feminine his voice was.  Only a young teen at the time, he hated being bare and seeing the way his body started to grow into curves, scrunching up his nose in disgust when he was placed into a corset.  He knew better, and he was well aware when he should bite his tongue, but that didn't seem to stop him.

 

* * *

 

 

Leo wasn't a stranger to bruises or marks, always getting a spot or two around his body when he would misbehave and fight back.  The burned scar that had scorched through clothing reminded him of how he shouldn't disobey his mother, the sorcerer that grew more powerful in the training of her child and recruits with magic knowing exactly what she was doing when she made her son battle her.  "Ignorant child."  Lilian had spat, refusing to let any of the clerics nearby help him when he cried from the pain.

 

The one night that his mother had fallen asleep before him, Leo sat in his nightclothes, lighting the flame on a candle that sat by a neatly placed out letter addressed to the King.  His mother had been overjoyed when she was sent word that King Garon, his father, would consider seeing their child.  Having rambled on and on about how she worked hard to get to such a point, she eventually slept after a long day of writing, leaving the ink and quill beside the letter she would have sent the following morning.

 

Eyes quickly scanning over the worn out paper, hazel orbs paused at the last neatly written sentence, reading  _"It is a great honor and blessing to have you finally see our child, Lea._ _"_  Lea was the name he was born with, and everyone seemed to call him, but he couldn't hate it more.  It was so close to being something else, and yet it was too far out of reach.  Halting for a moment before tucking the letter back into the envelope, Leo realized it was one of the few times he hadn't been addressed as his mother's daughter, and just as her child.  Glancing over towards the pen and quill, Leo spent a good portion of his free time before bed making sure that the words read  _Leo_ with a few smudges and drops of ink conventiently placed before putting it back.

 

The next morning, when a maid came to request the King would like to see his  _son,_ Leo went to meet his other siblings with a hand shaped mark on his face, and a new sense of pride even when Lilian claimed she would never have a boy.

 

* * *

 

 

Leo didn't find it a pleasure to have known some of his siblings before they died.  Few tried to befriend him, many tried to kill him, but all he knew was that he couldn't trust any of them.  Even upon running into a small girl, at least half of his age, Leo kept his guard up, draping the cloak over his shoulder heavily as she asked for directions and began rambling about getting distracted because of the beautiful flowers.  Leo almost didn't mind when he discovered her name was Elise, one of the few and last surviving siblings, along with the older girl who came to watch after her named Camilla.  He could see the similarities, but he never stayed long enough to let them call him their sister.

 

* * *

 

 

The day his mother died was one of the best days of his life.  Lilian had been assassinated by one of the King's former mistresses, and in turn, she had been executed.  Leo didn't care enough to go to her burial until the last moment, the elder siblings he had grown to know and almost love being there to comfort him, but all he did was spit on the fresh grave before turning back to his room with some unfinished business.

 

Leo always seemed to hate magic at first, always being told how feminine it seemed to be, and despising it all the more for being in his mother's shadow when he was taught.  As he grew older, he never did get another chance to see the King until he was chosen by the divine weapon Brynhildr, finding a distraction in the beautiful nature it created.  The blond had thought many times that he could have poisoned his mother, killed her slowly with that divine weapon, but he never could.

 

He wasn't allowed to cut his hair, always being sat down and had it lightly trimmed by his mother as she complained about her looking too much like 'the other bastard children', and never had it cut shorter than to his hips.  On the day Lilian died, Leo took a pair of sheers to the back of his neck, cutting off the long waves until the chunks of pale yellow fell to the floor, feeling a new weight lifted once the dread was finally gone.

 

* * *

 

 

The day he met his father, he felt completely new.  He had been introduced as a Prince, and his name was Leo, new wielder of the Brynhildr.  Over time, the Prince showed promise with animals, often riding horses before he realized he needed something more with his growth and aging.  He couldn't hide it forever with simple bandages around his chest, hips growing wider than he could have ever dealt with normally before Xander had insisted on helping him pick out his armor.  He had grown close with his siblings over the year, since his mother's passing and the deaths of the last concubines, they needed to earn trust.

 

It was hard for him to say how he felt and how he needed support, but his siblings insisted on being there, and for that he was grateful.  The night he had been assigned his first retainer was an entirely different story.

 

Castle Krakenburg had been broken into by a band of thieves, Leo's room raided during the night by a single bandit as guards waited just outside the large oak door, breathing shallow as a knife pressed against his pale flesh.  The Prince had learned over time that bandaging his chest during the night only caused problems, even when he wanted to claw at his chest until it was no longer there.

 

"Now, now.  You must be pretty special.  What do we have here?"  The thief crooned, dragging the blade slowly down his neck as his hand moved underneath the bedsheets to touch the cover of his tome he always kept near.  "You'd fetch a nice price."  By the time his sentence was finished, thorned vines sprouted from the flooring, ripping through the carpet to wrap dangerously around the thief, the Prince climbing out of bed and quickly covering the curve of his breasts under his shirt with his hand.

 

After a moment of struggling, the dark skinned thief's single pale eye scanned over the cover of Brynhildr, humming to himself as he slowly clicked his tongue.  "Ah, what a surprise.   The 'prince' isn't even such."  He hummed quietly, tilting his head back once Leo's face fell and a vine wrapped tightly around his throat, just grazing his skin enough to draw a prick of blood.

 

"Don't make me silence you."  Leo growled as he leaned down to gaze carefully at the other's face in the dim light coming from the open balcony door, the pale blue eye staring down his shirt with a small whistle before his face was forced upward.  "You'd only be ruining your fancy rug."

 

A moment of silence.

 

"Tell me everything you know.  Starting with your name."

 

* * *

 

 

Niles was one of the first to ever truly know about Leo, besides his own siblings, and even Elise seemed to forget about how her brother was before officially becoming a Prince.  He made sure not to let anyone else know, even the other retainers, of who he was underneath heavy plates of armor and frequent silence.

 

If he had a choice, he would have made sure the outlaw didn't have the tongue to spit such nonsense about him being a Princess playing the part of a Prince during the time he first started working as a retainer, but he eventually gained his trust enough until it stopped.

 

Leo didn't often care about people seeing his body, worrying about his curves more than any scars.  Once the Prince had begun to trust the outlaw, he waited outside his washroom while he bathed, usually with a snide comment of being able to join him.  Leo was no fool, and he caught the way the former thief's eye gazed over his legs when they dripped once he stepped out of the water, fit in a small towel that dare threatened to fall at any given moment.

 

He couldn't help the stares from underneath the short towel, and yet his gaze always seemed to catch longer at his hazel eyes, or the way his hair clung to his soft cheeks when it was wet, his usual headband discarded.  With his back pressed against the wall, Leo could feel the heat of the other's breath as their noses brushed together, the taller of the two with his long fingers trailing up his delicate thigh.

 

The Prince's cheeks were flushed a rosey pink from the steam previously in the washroom, hazel eyes flicking down the wandering hand before it paused, tugging lightly on the loose towel.  Niles stood with his tall frame between Leo's bare legs, torso pressed between his legs and breathing shallow.  "I could never hold a candle to you, my lord."  He murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his nose, and Leo couldn't help but look a bit disappointed.

 

Taking a step back, Leo only reached out to tangle his fingers in snow white hair, tugging him close enough to brush their lips close and whisper lovingly against his skin.  

 

"If only you'd dare try."

 

* * *

 

 

Night fell fast in Nohr, yet Leo didn't mind, surrounded by the stars as he looked out over the balcony from his room.  He never expected to be a prince, and always wondered if he would end up dead before any of his other siblings, but it seemed to turn out differently.  He wondered if it was for the best.

 

Xander had been crowned king after the war, Camilla and Elise insisting that he celebrate with everyone else, the birth of a new leadership and the start to a happy country.  But Leo had always felt too afraid to do such, and he never liked to take the time in little things as such.  He had lived a life of fear and grew used to it's cruelity.

 

"You would have made a wonderful king too, Milord Leo."  Niles muttered from behind him, the Prince unmoving as his voice was as soft as the calm breeze.  A small shiver ran down his body, and the outlaw draped his arm over the blond, tugging him close and nuzzling into his hair as they watched the stars.

 

"I suppose."  He agreed after a pause.

 

His life had always been cold and cruel, but in another's arms, it finally felt warm.

**Author's Note:**

> this sucks but I tried


End file.
